Type-writing machine.



PATBNTBD Amso, 19o?. A. T. BROWN.

TYPE WRITINGV'MAGHINE. APPLIGATION FILED 00T.21,19o4.

HISATTURNEY' No. 852,374. I VPATRNTRD APR. 3o, 1907. A. fr. BROWN. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION `IFILEI) OUT. 21, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' LD L:

WITNEERER. INVENTUR.

HIS/ALLE@ v operating link; pand F1 partly in section, of the lgie 'UNI-TED sTAfrns PATENT OFFICE.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

lSpecication of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907.-

Original application leli June 4,1904, Serial No. 211,128. Divided and this application filed October 21,1904. Serial No. 229.486.

Writing Machines, of which the following 1s a specification.

My inventionA relates to typewriting machlnes and more especially to thetype and key actions of such machines.

My invention consists 1n certaln features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointy ed out in the claims.

This application is a division of my application Serial No.I 211,128, filed June 4th,

My invention is'.illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a front to rear vertical sectionv of a typewriting machine; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a link used in my construction; Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofthe type bar 4 is a plan view, y action.

The main frame of' the typewriter illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises a base portion havingside plates 1 connected to ether by a combined back plate and shel 1 towhich they are detachably secured,'as by screws. Posts 2 rising from said side plates support a top plate 3' on which is mounted a carriage which supports the platen 4.

The keyboard mechanism is mounted in a secondary frame which is detachably mounted in the main frame of the machine. ySaid detachable secondary frame comprises a series of plates`5 which are strung on rods 6 and spaced apart on said rods by washers or sleeves 7. Each of the rods is threaded near one or both of its ends and nuts 8 on said threaded ends hold the plates 5 and washers 7 in position, the Whole thus constituting a rigid framework. This framework is mountseries of plates 5. `rllhese key levers are ar- .oft

ranged in straight rows from front to back of the machine, and a plate extends between, each contiguous pair of rows of key levers.

These keylevers 9 are formed oi sheet metal bent into'a U-shaped form at 12, thus forming furcated levers, the front ends of which are comparatively close together and embrace bars 13 intowhich project the stems 14 of the keys 15. At their rear ends the furcated levers 9 are spread farther apart so that when a key is depressed the front end of its lever 9 may descend between the arms of the urcated key lever next in front of it. The kstems 14 are guided in o enings in frame plates 1 6' beneath which was ers 17 of felt or other sound deadening material are'secured to the rods 13. Each of the levers 9 is rigidly secured to a sleeve 10 which is loosely mounted on a rod 11 and each of these sleeves has fixed thereto a lever arm 18 to the upper end of which is pivoted a parallel moving link 19 which transmits the motion of the key to the t e bar. The keyboard system so far descri ed' is substantially identical with that shown and described in my prior' application, Serial No. 127,536, iiled Otober 16, 1902, typewriting machines.

A series of secondary levers 20 are pivoted at 21 on a bar 22 which extends transversely of the machine. Two or more of the plates 5 are extended toward the back of the machine and support the bar 22 which is secured thereto by screws 23, as shown. The levers 20 are connected to the lever arms 18 by the links 19, each of which is pivoted at its front end to one of the lever arms 18 and at its rear A end to one of the levers 20. The levers 9 are so arranged as'to place the keys 15 in straight rows from' iront to back of the machine; but the lever arms 18 are mounted on the sleeves 10 -at different ositions longitudinally of said sleeves, as s own in Fig. 4, so that one of said arms standssubstantially directly in front of each of the levers 20. As shown in the resent case, the arm 18'nearest the back -machine is`1nounted on its sleeve -10 near the right-hand end of said sleeve, the

arm 18 nearest the front of the machine is. near the left-hand end of its sleeve 10, andA ICO the other arms occupying intermediate positions, as shown. I prefer to make the arms 18 and 2() or' the saine length and to so design the parts' that these two arms are parallel. This being the case, each of the links 19 has a parallel motion, that is to say, when a key is depressed-every point of the link 19 connected thereto moves parallel to every other. point. Each ofthe levers 20 extends downward vfrom its pivot, beneath which it is formed with a hook 24 to which is 'connected one end of a spring 25, the other end of which is oonnected to one of a series of hooks 26 formed by bending back the teeth of a comb plate 27, which is secured to the plates 5 and extends across the keyboard mechanism. i The springs 25 hold the keys in-their normal positions. Each of the levers 20 has an arm 28 extending toward the backof the machine and lying beneath a universal bar 29 whichhas rigidly secured to its ends arms 30 which are pivoted at 31 to the'side plates 1 ofthe main frame'. The construction is such that when any key 15 is depressed, its furcated lever 9 and lever arm 19 are rocked, thus rocking the correspondirig lever arm `20 and raising the universal bar 29 by the lever arm 2,8. The universal bar may be connected with the escapement mechanism and other devices in any suitable manner,

y The type bars 33 are mounted upon a rod 34 by a ball bearing connection. The rod 34 is bent into the segment of a circle and has grooves or ball races cut in its surface.v The vtype bar, at the point where it surrounds the rod, is made of two pieces, a semi-circular strap 35 being secured to the bar by screws A36, thus forming a circular opening or' eye which is grooved internally to form a ball race co-operating with that formed in the rod 34. Two types 37 and 38 are mounted on each type bar, and the segment 34 is shiftable up and down to bring one or another .of said types to the printing point. The precise construction of type .bar segments and ball bearing here shown are immaterial to the present invention, but are described and claimed in other applications of mine copending herewith'. Each of the parallel moving links 19 has an upwardly extending arm 3.9 which is pivoted at 40 to a link 41 which is pivoted at 42 to a type bar The link 41 consists of a strip of resilient sheet metal which is bent in the manner shown in Fig. 3 and has ears 43 bent back from its edges and embracing a portion of the type bar 33 to which said ears are pivoted at 42. At its forward end the link 41 is'formed with a pair of ears 44 which are bent back as shown andpivoted, to the arm 39 at 40. The form of the link 41 is such that said link constitutes in effect a spring connection between the arms 39 and the type bar. I have found that this form of connection greatlyim roves the touch on the key. For,I example, w en the type strikes the platen,

the key is not violently or 'suddenly arrested but ,is arrested onlythrough this resilient link which lessens the shock on the finger of the operator: A

The type bars 33 are .n'anged segmentally,

Vthe posts 2 to the top late 3.

"those type bars which are near-the end of the segment lying at a greater distance above the links 19 than those near the center ofthe segment and also lying in different planes at different inclinations to the vertical. The arms which are connected to those type bars near the ends of the segment are accordingly made longer and at their upper ends are bent'into the planes of their respective type bars. By an inspection of Fig. 1 it will be seen that the forwardly extending portion of the links 19 areall alike except as to length.

*In practice, therefore, when these links are made, they are all blanked out alike, each one having its arm 39 of sufhcient length to reach the highest type bar of the segment and each having its forwardly extending arm of sufficient length to reach the key lever of the front row. Each of these blanks then has its forwardly extending arm cut o to the proper length and bent back upon itself as shown at 45 (Fig.2) so thatithe lever arm 18 y is pivoted between'the forwardly extending arm of the link 1.9 and the backwardly bent end of. that arm. At its rear end each of the levers 19 is vbent back upon itself as shown at 46 and the lever arm 20 is'pivoted between the link and. the bent back portion thereof.l Each of the arms 39 is cut off, if necessary, to a Length appropriate to the. height of the particular type bar to which it is to be connected. The construction of the keyboard mechanism is such that the levers 9 and 13, the bell cranklevers 20, 28, the links 19 and springs 25 are all assembled outside of the machine in the detachable frame which has been described, and this part of the mechanism is inserted inthe ma,- chine. as anentirety.

In assembling the machine, the key-action frame comprising Vthe plates 5 and rods 6 and the entire key, action, including the levers 20 and. links' 19, may be assembled before they are put into the machine. The main frame of the machine may then be assembled except for one of the sides plates 1. The key action frame may then Vbe placed in position, one of the reduced ends of each of the rods 6 being inserted in the openings in that side plate 1 which is alreadyV in position. The remaining side plate may then be placed in position, the other ends of the rods 6 inserted in their openings, and said side plate may then be secured to the back plate 1 and The plates 16 may then be secure in position, and the'` links 41 may be connected to the arms 39'by springing the ears 44 over the pins 40. Thel key-action frame and key action may be detached as an entirety' by reversing this operation. l

Various vchanges in the details of con roo struction and arrangement' mav be made The bnibearmg for the typebar showt' vmounted on said parallel :rods secondary leand briefly described herein, is claimed in my pending application Serial No.- 201,260 iled April 2nd, 1904. In my prior application 5 Serial No. 127,536, hereinbefore referred to,

there is shown a tylpe action embodying the bell crank key evers, --the secondary levers similar to the levers 20, 28 and the parallel moving links 19 with their upstandxc ing arms 39 of different lengths connected with the typel bars by links corresponding to the links 41; but in said prior application the secondary levers are mounted on a cross bar which is secured to the main frame ofthe machine instead of to the detachable auxiliary frame Aas in the present case. This general style of key and type action is claimed in said prior application, many of the claims of whic read on the present construction. In

2o said prior application the detachable frame having the key levers mounted therein is also claimed more'broadly than in the present case and various details of the key and type action shown in this case .are claimed in said 2 5 prior application.' The claims in thepresent case are' limited to a construction in which the secondary leversv are carried by the detachable frame and also to the articular construction of the link 41 whicl 1s speciiic- 3o ally dierent from that shown in said prior a plication. As shown in the present' case, t e top plate extends out in front of the front .face of the platen and serves as a dust guard to protect the'type bar bearin s from 35 falling dust. This feature is claime in my 'prior application, Serial No. 201,260, above referred to.` Whatl claim as new and desire to secure `by Letters'Patent, is 1. 'In a typewriting machine, the combination .with the mainframe; of a frame detachably fixed in said main rame;ia series of key levers mounted in said detachable frame; aseries of-secondary levers mounted in said 45 detachable frame and operatively connected with said key levers; and a universal bar operated by said secondary levers.

2. In a ty ewriting machine,

5o resilient sheet metal havin one or more ears struckup therefrom at eac end;a type bar pivotally connected tothe ear .or ears at one of the machine; parallel transverse rods sup-V 65. ported by said plates, anda transverse bar U the combination of a lin consisting of a curved strip of.

rigidly supported by said plates key levers vers mounted on said transverse bar; and links connecting said key levers and said secondary levers.

1 5. 1n a typewriting Inachine, the combination of a main frame; a series of front-strike upwardly.and rearwardly striking type bars mounted in said main frame; a secondary frame comprising cross-rods supported by and detachablyiixed in said main frame,`

plates extending fore and aft of the machine and supported -by saidcross rods, vvand a cross bar supported by said plates; key levers supported bysaidplates; secondary levers supportedby sai cross-bar; parallel moving links connecting said key levers and secondary levers; andimeans separate from said secondary levers connecting said parallel .moving links with said type bars.

6. In a typewriting machine, the ycombination of aimain frame; a series of front-strike type bars mounted in said main frame a secondary frame detachably lixed in said main frame; key levers and secondary levers mounted in said detachable frame; parallel moving links connecting said key levers with saidsecondary levers; and links directly connecting said parallel moving links with said .type bars.

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a main frame; front-strike type bars mounted in said main frame; a secondary frame-detachably fixed in said main frame andcomprising transverserods supported by said -main frame, anda series of plates mounted on said rods; key levers andsecondary le- .vers supported bysaid (plates: parallel moving links connecting sai key levers and secondary levers; links directly connecting said parallel-moving links with said ty e bars; and a universal bar operated by sai secondary lever's.l A

8. In' a front-strike typewriting machine, the .combination of a main frame, a platen mounted to travel on said main frame, up-

vwardly and rearwardly striking type bars that impact against the front face .of the platen, an auxiliary frame detachably fixed 1n .the main frame so lthat the auxiliary Jframe and the parts carried thereby may be insertedin and removed asa whole from the IIO main frame, key levers and secondary leversp carried b said auxiliary frame, and intermediate- 1nks` between sald key leversand secondarylevers', the connections between rzo said key levers and type bars being eiiected throu h said intermediate links.

9. n a front-strike typewriting'machine, the combination of a main frame, a platen mounted to travel on said mainframe, u wardly and rearwardly striking segmenta y arranged type bars that impact against the front face o fthe vlaten, an auxiliary frame detachably fixed in' the main frame so that the secondary frame and thev parts carried terniedisite links, and a universal bar actu- Io thereby may be inserted in andvrenioved as a ated by said secondary levers. whole from the main frame, key'levers, and Signed at Syracuse, in the county ofOnonsecondary levers carried by ,said auxiliary daga and State of New York-,this 17th day frame, said levers lhaving upright subst'anl of October, A. D. 1904.

tially parallelxmembers, intermediate links,- ALEXANDER BROWN, between the upright members of said key l lVitnesses: levers and secondary levers, type bar aetui KAREN VON KLOSTER,

ating links between the type bars and said in. 4LENA E. HAYEs. 

